New York Agricultural Experiment Station, 121 



times hy one and sometimes by the otlier method, according to the 

 crop and special conditions. Labor is saved by using the drill, while 

 the best ultimate results appear more often to come from broadcast- 

 ing, ploughing or harrowing in accordance to circumstances. "When 

 a fertilizer is especially needed by a crop in its earliest stages, there 

 is advantage in drilling it in with the seed. When concentrated 

 fertilizers are to be distributed broadcast, it is desirable that they 

 should be somewhat diluted. 



Distribution of Soluble Fertilizers. — Materials which are readily 

 soluble can be scattered over the surface. After the first fall of rain 

 they distribute themselves throughout the soil very completely and 

 uniformly. Such materials are nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, 

 soluble phosphates and soluble potash salts. These materials are 

 preferably used in case of top-dressing. 



Distribution of Fertilizers not readily Soluble. — Materials 

 which are not readily soluble are preferably well mixed through 

 and beneath the soil. Thus, dried blood, bone-meal, fish-scrap and 

 similar materials are best placed at greater or less depth beneath 

 the soil, because under these conditions they become soluble more 

 rapidly and are retained more surely by the soil. 



Time of Application. — Fertilizers which dissolve easily and 

 diffuse through soil rapidly, and which are not readily retained by 

 the soil, are best applied only when the crop is ready to utilize 

 them. If put on too early, there is danger of their being leached 

 from the soil aud carried more or less beyond the reach of the plant 

 and thus lost. Nitrates and, to a less extent, ammonia compounds 

 come under this precaution. Hence, it is not wise ordinarily to 

 apply guano, ammonia compounds or nitrate of soda in the fall, 

 except in climates which have a dry fall and winter. Their appli- 

 cation should be deferred until spring. In wet springs, ammonia 

 compounds are preferably applied rather than nitrate of soda ; or, if 

 nitrate of soda is used, loss may be avoided by making several small 

 applications, instead of one at the start. Care should be taken, 

 however, not to make applications of nitrate of soda too late in the 

 season, as the maturing of the crop will be retarded and there will 

 be an excessive growth of stems and leaves. 



Fertilizers which do not dissolve readily or which do not diffuse 

 through the soil rapidly are better applied to the land before the 

 crop commences its growth. To this class belong stable-manure, 



